


Bouquet of Daisies

by MeanGreenThing



Category: The Wicked Years Series - Gregory Maguire, Wicked - All Media Types, Wicked - Schwartz/Holzman
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Farm/Ranch, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Childhood Friends, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Homophobia, Humor, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-12
Updated: 2019-07-15
Packaged: 2020-01-11 23:48:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18434642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeanGreenThing/pseuds/MeanGreenThing
Summary: neither Glinda nor Fiyero wanted to spend the summer on a small farm out south, but their parents had insisted. Both had been so sure that staying there would be torturous. But maybe, the cute farmhands will make the stay worth it.





	1. The Farm

**Author's Note:**

> This fic will alternate between POVs of Galinda, Fiyero, Elphaba, and Boq

The car bumped along the gravel and sand road. And she listened, as the luggage rattled in the trunk of the car. It was sweltering hot, even with the air conditioner going. Across from her, sat Fiyero, who looked just as disgruntled and unpleased as she did. Every now and then, she would glance forlornly out the window of the car and let out a long, dramatic sigh.

Eventually, her mother got tired of it and turned in her seat to look at her “Glinda, Fiyero." she began "I know that neither of you enjoys the idea of staying at a farm, but it’ll be good for you. Country air! It’s refreshing.” she said, gesturing with her hands excitedly as she talked as if that would get Fiyero and her excited to spend over a month on a muddy farm.

The expectation of what the farm was like had been built up and hyped by her mother and father. Who, of course, wouldn’t be at the farm. They’d be leaving Glinda and Fiyero with Ama Clutch, and whomever it was who ran the farm. Her mother very often would build up her expectations for something, only for Glinda to be severely disappointed by it. So she no longer trusted her mother with these things. Farms in munchkinland couldn’t be anything but muddy and gross.

Glinda had wanted to spend the summer with Pfannee and Shen Shen, but her mother had insisted on shipping her off to the country for a relaxing trip in south munchkinland. But so far, all munchkinland was to her, was hot, and nothing but rolling fields with small towns scattered about. She opened the window of the car to let a breeze in, though Fiyero seemed displeased about that. “Glinda, can you please roll the window up? I don’t exactly enjoy eating my own hair.” he complained “Oh shush. We’ll be there in a few minutes, then you can worry about your vanity.” He simply scoffed and stared back out the window.

 

Glinda had been right, five minutes of staring out the window later, and they were pulling up a long gravel driveway up to a farm. On the porch, stood what appeared to be a young boy, who couldn’t be older than 15. For he was only 4’8 and had a young face. His dirty blonde hair was cut short as most munchkin boys did with their hair, it was curly though, which wasn’t something Glinda often saw on munchkin men.

The car came to a halt and the door was opened for her. Glinda stepped out of the car cautiously, she would never forgive herself if she ruined her shoes with mud. But the ground was surprisingly dry. They made their way to the porch of the house, and the boy stood “Hello there! You must be Miss Glinda!” he said, there was a slight southern twang to his voice, it was endearing, but she knew it would become annoying eventually.

Glinda nodded “yes, I’m looking for Elphaba and Boq…” the boy smiled at her “well, you’ve found one half! I’m Boq Bfeeson!” he held out her hand, but Glinda did not shake it. She was too struck by the fact that this boy was her age. He was so  _ short _ , it just couldn’t be possible. Glinda nearly laughed, but she didn’t want to be rude. She couldn’t bring herself out of her shock quickly enough, because a moment later, Fiyero was coming up behind her and shaking Boq’s hand.

After a few minutes of friendly conversation, and trips back and forth from the car, all of their things were inside the small farmhouse. And then Glinda bid her parents goodbye and turned back to Boq and Fiyero. The shorter boy’s face was flushed, and Fiyero was leaning over him slightly ‘oh, of course, he’s flirting with the farmhand. What more did I expect’ Glinda thought. She knew that the poor boy was going to find himself heartbroken by the end of the summer. She made her way over and stepped between the lovebirds “hate to break it up, but I was told there would be two people here with us.” she said, and Ama, who had been standing nearby perked up “yes, that’s what we were told. You haven’t lied to us, have you, boy?”

Boq shook his head “oh, of course not! I’m an honest person ma’am, I would never lie to you! Elphaba is probably in her room. Come inside and I’ll get her from her room.” he led them inside. The house was nice, it had air conditioning. Though it smelled like a retirement home, and all the furniture looked like it belongs in her Nan’s home. Though, she figured it added to the supposed ‘charm’ of the house.

The boy turned to them “you all make yourselves at home and I’ll fetch Elphaba!” he said, then he turned on his heel and ran up the stairs. They creaked as he stepped on them, which worried Glinda slightly. Though she said nothing of it and instead turned her attention to Fiyero, who was now sitting on the couch with his feet on the armrest “he seems nice, huh?”

She rolled her eyes and slipped out of her flats “yes, I’m sure you’ll love to find out if he’s just as nice in bed as well, then?” she said, thankfully Ama was out on the porch, so she didn’t need to worry about her overhearing. Although, she had no clue how thin the walls were. Fiyero put his hand against his chest in mock offense “well! I never, Glinda! How on earth could you accuse me of such a thing!” he said.

The two of them got comfortable, Fiyero seemed to adapt to the place with ease, as he did in any social situation. But Glinda remained a little awkward no matter which way she sat or adjusted herself. And after several minutes of sitting and waiting, Glinda finally heard people coming downstairs. She turned in her seat and nearly gasped. She had heard of the other farmhand from her mother, but what she hadn’t heard from her mother was that the girl was green. She managed to reign in her shock to a simple double take, after all, she’d be spending more than a month there, she wouldn’t want to offend either of the farm hands. She stood and gave a small smile “you must be Elphaba.” she said politely.   
  
The girl nodded, though her face remained unamused “yes, and from what I hear, the two of us will be sharing a room.” she didn’t seem very amused, and Glinda couldn’t blame her. She wouldn’t want a stranger staying in her house either, goodness knows she didn’t want to be there anyway. It seemed everyone was unhappy with these plans, except for Fiyero and Boq, who would be sharing a room.

The color of her skin had thrown her off initially, but the more she stared at the girl, the more she started to notice the nicer traits that outweighed the garish color. Like her dark, piercingly brown eyes, and long black hair. She was tall and slender and although she didn’t seem very graceful, Glinda couldn’t help but think she would look quite pretty if it weren’t for the shock of the emerald green.

They all got to know each other a little better, and Glinda learned that Elphaba had a younger sister who wouldn’t be joining them for another week, because she was out in the city with her father. After a while, it began to get dark. And they all went their separate ways to their room to get ready for bed.  Glinda sat by the window in her nightgown, with her hair brushed and braided back gracefully. The sky was pitch black and splattered with stars. There was no light pollution from street lights and buildings. There was no cars or people talking and shouting. Just a calming silence. Maybe, she thought, the summer there wouldn’t be so bad.


	2. Kitchen Conversations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So Fiyero had to sit alone in the empty house, in the kitchen with a full cup of coffee sitting in front of him, untouched. Light filtered through the crack in the curtains of the window, and the air conditioner was on full blast. It was calm and peaceful. But despite the nice atmosphere, Fiyero felt like crying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ohhhhhh boy here's where things start to get Gay

Fiyero would’ve loved nothing more than to stay inside all day, but the house was stuffy and humid, at least outside there was an occasional breeze, though they were few and far between, they were there and that was enough for him. Most of the cows strayed around the field, with the exception of one. A small calf who was laying in the grass with its head in Boq’s lap. It still baffled Fiyero how much some of the animals loved Boq, he treated them as if they were pets instead of livestock.  Boq’s hand traced along the top of the calf’s head. And Fiyero couldn’t help but watch. He was like some sort of Disney prince. No wonder Fiyero had been so drawn to him when he had arrived. But the boy was an odd puzzle, the day he had gotten there, Boq hadn’t seemed to mind his flirting. But the next day, he would barely even look at Fiyero. He couldn’t help but wonder if he had done something wrong.

He was still trying to think of why Boq had suddenly been acting so strange, he had to have some sort of reason. Or maybe it was just him trying to make up an excuse, to spare himself the embarrassment of possibly asking out a straight guy. His eyes trailed up to Boq’s face, he was smiling softly at the animal laying in his lap. Fiyero cleared his throat “so, what’s it like working on a farm?” he asked.

Boq startled slightly at the broken silence and glanced up at Fiyero, only for a moment, before dropping his head back down to the grass “It’s… Interesting, I suppose. There’s a bigger town a few minutes away to the south. We get most of our flowers from there.” he said. Fiyero hummed, to show he was listening “maybe… we could go get some coffee there sometime… just the two of us?” Boq tensed up and looked up at Fiyero with a look that could only be a mix of shock and… disgust?

Fiyero’s smile fell at the look on his face. He stood and the cow made a noise of protest “look I don’t know what- I’m not- I would never- _I’m not gay._ ” he said, snappishly. Fiyero blinked, he had been bracing himself for a rejection, but he hadn’t been expecting to upset him so much “hey man, It’s fine” he reached forward to put a hand on Boq’s shoulder, only for him to take a step back “Don’t- don’t touch me. Just leave me alone.” he hopped the fence and pushed past Fiyero. And disappeared behind the door of the humid house.

He stood there for quite sometime before he could hear footsteps coming up behind him, he could see the green girl out of the corner of his eyes, but remained silent. She leaned against the fence and sighed “so, what did you do? I’m not mad, I just want to know. I’ve never seen Boq that upset.” Fiyero winced, so he _was_ upset. He should’ve known. Southern Munchkinland wasn’t exactly the most progressive of areas from what he had heard “All I did was ask him to coffee”

Elphaba nodded knowingly “Ah, I see. Well, don’t worry man, He’ll calm down. Just give him time.” she said, “I wouldn’t have asked if I knew he was homophobic…” She gave him a shocked look “homophobic? Oh, no. He’s not. It’s his dad you have to worry about. Boq is my closest friend and he knows _full well_ that I’m a lesbian. His dad, on the other hand, is an asshole. He shoved his ideas and expectations on that poor boy. Kinda messed with him. He’s the sweetest guy you’ll ever meet. But, he has a lot on his plate.”

Fiyero frowned, that sounded awful. In the Vinkus, people who were gay weren’t all that frowned upon. A lot of boys would have a thing with each other, but it was always fleeting, it never lasted long since most of the men were expected to marry and start families to carry on their bloodline. But, of course, this wasn’t the Vinkus. It was munchkinland. and  _ Southern _ munchkinland nonetheless. “Why are you telling me this?” he asked “you only met me the other day.” Elphaba smiled at him “because I can read people. And when I see the way you stare at him. I've got a good feeling about you.”

 

The next morning, the house was quiet, a little too quiet for Fiyero’s liking. But Glinda had gone out to the town Boq had spoken of and dragged Elphaba along with her. And Boq had locked himself up in his room. So Fiyero had to sit alone in the empty house, in the kitchen with a full cup of coffee sitting in front of him, untouched. Light filtered through the crack in the curtains of the window, and the air conditioner was on full blast. It was calm and peaceful. But despite the nice atmosphere, Fiyero felt like crying. His eyes stung and he continuously swallowed down the lump in his throat.

The heavy silence continued for quite some time until Fiyero’s heart felt as heavy as a stone. But a creak rang through the air, cutting through the silence. He looked up from his reflection in the coffee and saw Boq standing there on the steps. He looked rather embarrassed to have been caught sneaking out. He rubbed the side of his arm “I- Um… I wanted to apologize… I feel I may have hurt your feelings yesterday when I got so upset. I have absolutely nothing against gay people but-”   
  
“But you would never be one yourself? Why? Cause you’re embarrassed by the thought?”

“What?! No! No, I just… My dad, he… Nevermind.” Fiyero frowned, that was the second time Boq’s father had been brought up during the topic of homosexuality, and Fiyero had to wonder. “What about him?” Boq looked up at him “what?” Fiyero turned in his chair and looked at him “your father.”

Boq was once against avoiding eye contact, staring at the creaky floorboard beneath him “there was a small incident, awhile ago. With a boy in my class. He was found with another boy. And my dad gave me this long lecture about what he would ever do if he found out I was gay because he….” he stepped the rest of the way downstairs “He doesn’t exactly have the best opinion on gay people. And it set an impression on me.” Fiyero supposed he could understand that. He could never possibly imagine the idea of hating someone because of who they love.

He stood and walked closer to Boq, staring down at him and noting how pink his cheeks were. “Why would he be upset with you for it?” he continued to walk, and Boq backed up to accommodate him “because he would be embarrassed?” he continued walking until Boq was pressed against the wall of the kitchen “to find his son pinned against the wall? By someone like me? Is that the case?” and if Boq’s face wasn’t red before, it most definitely was now. He seemed unable to form a proper sentence, with Fiyero’s hands on his arms gently, and his chest pressed against his, keeping him against the wall. All he managed was a small, nervous laugh.

Fiyero leaned down, closer to Boq’s face “well?” Boq managed another small laugh, putting his hand against Fiyero's chest gently. He cleared his throat awkwardly “so! Uh… Coffee? I… I think I’ll take you up on that offer.” he said. Fiyero smiled “well, good to know. How does tomorrow sound?”

“Tomorrow sounds perfect.”

The door opened and in stepped Glinda and Elphaba, both of them looking thoroughly confused by the scene, “what’s going on in here?” Elphaba asked with an eyebrow raised. Boq quickly shuffled out from between Fiyero and the kitchen wall “uh- Nothing! I was just getting… an Apple! Yeah, that’s all! Okay uh… bye!” he grabbed an apple from the fruit basket on the table and ran back upstairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yee haw things are getting gay, next chapter will be from Elphaba's POV


	3. The Forest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “think I can climb it?” she said  
> “Please don’t.”  
> “I’m gonna do it!”  
> Elphaba groaned in exasperation. This was getting tiring “Glinda, can we please just head back?” she got no response, as Glinda was already trying to climb the structure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sakfjakjf sorry this took so long- I got busy with theatre and had no motivation to write, but uhhhhhh here it is!

Elphaba sat, with her legs crossed, on the arm of the chair, watching her friend pace around anxiously. She sighed “Boq, it’s just coffee” He turned on his heel and looked at her intensely “what if he gets the wrong Idea? I’m not into him!” Elphaba raised an eyebrow “I’m _ not _ ! I’m not gay, Elphie!” Elphaba sighed, she knew Boq had nothing against gay people. But it was obvious he had heaping amounts of internalized homophobia, even if he’d never admit it. Hopefully, this new boy could help him with that... Hopefully.

She stood up, slid off the arm of the chair, and made her way across the room to Boq “Hey, short stack. Get it together. I’m sure he wouldn’t try anything without asking you if you were okay with it. He just wants coffee. That’s all.” He dropped his head slightly and stared at the ground, he had an odd expression on his face. Clearly, something was bothering him. But she asked no questions, she knew doing that would only make him close himself off even more.

She sighed and looked at the clock “you’d better get going, it’s three thirty, you and Fiyero are heading out soon.” His head snapped back up and he frowned. She put a gentle hand on his shoulder “It’ll be fine! Besides, if anyone should be worried, it’s me. I have to spend the day with the ditzy blonde.” she said.

The boys headed out, Elphaba stood on the porch and watched as the two of them got in the car and drove away to the town nearby. She stayed outside for quite a while, enjoying the nice weather, not too cold or too warm, it was a great day. The sun had dried most of the water from the previous night's rain. It seemed that Elphaba wasn’t the only one who wanted to enjoy the weather, because, after about an hour, Glinda came out onto the porch, carrying a picnic basket. And dressed like she was ready to go out.

She smiled brightly at Elphaba “you need to get dressed!” Elphaba looked at her incredulously “and why is that?” she asked. Glinda giggled “because silly! We’re going out! The boys are out, so why not us? It’s a lovely day, would be a shame to waste it!” There was no way Elphaba was going out with her. But, with the way Glinda was staring at her, it didn’t seem she had much of a choice. So she, reluctantly, walked back inside and up to her room to change out of her pajamas. She had been meaning to change anyways, Boq always got upset when she wore her pajamas past 3:30. When she walked downstairs, Glinda was standing there in the kitchen, wearing rosey-pink overalls and a white, cropped shirt underneath. Elphaba could see her torso through the sides overalls.

She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest “so, uh… shall we go, then?” she asked. Glinda smiled brightly nod nodded, throwing her bag over her shoulder and leading the way out of the house.

The day passed without much incident, Glinda managed to fill the silence with her endless chattering. But Elphaba remained silent, except for an occasional comment or two. On their way back, they stumbled across a small, crumbling structure, that appeared to have been some sort of altar at one point. An altar to what, neither of them was sure.

“Let’s check it out!” Glinda said excitedly, wading through the tall grass, off the trail, headed towards the structure

“there could be ticks in there.” Elphaba reminded her, receiving a dismissive wave of Glinda’s hand in response. The Blonde made it to the structure. Elphaba knew full well how many bugs this forest had, and she also knew that Glinda wouldn’t be happy if she had a bug crawling on her. She just wanted to head home.

“think I can climb it?” she said

“Please don’t.”

“I’m gonna do it!”

Elphaba groaned in exasperation. This was getting tiring “Glinda, can we please just head back?” she got no response, as Glinda was already trying to climb the structure. She thought of all the times she had watched Boq try and climb things, whether they be trees or the small shack in the backyard of the farmhouse, and he’d always fall and end up hurt. He still had scars to prove all the falls he had taken.

Glinda was about halfway up the structure when she let out a sharp yell as her foot slipped on a patch of moss, and she tumbled back down to the grass. Elphaba let out a long sigh as she walked over “I don’t wanna say I told you so, but… I did.” she said.

Glinda rolled her eyes as she started to stand “yeah, yeah. I get it- oh, fuck” Elphaba froze for a moment as Glinda crouched back down, holding her ankle. She had never heard the other girl swear, she just assumed she was constantly prim and proper like all perfect city girls were. But nevertheless, she pushed her surprise aside and knelt beside Glinda

“Can you stand?” she asked quietly, internally sighing when Glinda shook her head. She knew how this was gonna go, she had done this before. So, she took a deep breath “I can carry you if that’s okay with you.” She hadn’t carried another person since she was 13, but she figured she still had it in her.

The walk home was easier without Glinda on her back, they were no longer stopping every five minutes. Halfway home, Glinda had fallen asleep. Elphaba found it oddly endearing, something about the blonde’s head leaning against her shoulder, and her arms wrapped gently around her neck, was nice. She chose to ignore the fluttering in her chest.

When they got home, she set Glinda down on the couch and carefully helped her get the sleeping girl’s shoes off. She draped a blanket over her. And stood there, watching for a moment, to be sure she wouldn’t wake up. The fluttering in her chest time, she didn’t ignore the feeling, and instead, made her way upstairs, to rest, and ponder what it was about the blonde girl that seemed to be drawing her in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this chapter is kinda short, it's only fives pages, but I needed to get something out so y'all wouldn't be wondering whether I'd abandoned the fic or not


	4. Coffee Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What Boq and Fiyero were up to while Glinda and Elphaba had their picnic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no excuse for this taking so long other than executive dysfunction- so uh- sorry about that-

Fiyero could tell that Boq had been averse to having coffee with him at first. Since their talk in the kitchen, even being around him made Boq jumpy and skittish. He couldn’t blame him of course, he thought perhaps maybe he had come on a little too strong. But as they made their way into the town, Boq seemed to relax at least a little. A few people had stopped to say hi, clearly Boq went into town often, because it seemed like everyone knew him, judging by how many people were staring. When Fiyero looked, closer, though, it wasn’t Boq they were staring at, it was him. ‘of course,’ he thought bitterly ‘these people have probably never seen someone from the vinkus in their entire life.’

it was almost a relief when they arrived at the small cafe on the corner, the stares continued, but at least he could distract himself by staring at the menu, and occasionally, the boy standing beside him. He couldn’t articulate it, but something about Boq kept drawing him in. Maybe, it was the way he kept clumsily pushing up his glasses. Or perhaps it was his soft demeanor- ever quiet, and easy to be around. It could’ve been a manner of things. Or it was all of them. Either way, he kept stealing glances whenever he could. And when Boq smiled at the man taking their order, Fiyero’s chest tightened in a way he couldn’t describe. It was good, but deep down, there was a twinge of sadness mixed with it.

They got their coffee and sat down in a window seat at the corner, it was quaint and very cozy. Boq sat across the table from him, and Fiyero found himself staring once again. He could see under the table, that Boq’s feet couldn’t reach the floor, even when he pointed his toes he was still missing it by several inches, Fiyero couldn’t help the small chuckle that left him. He continued to stare, and to his relief, Boq didn’t seem to notice, he was busy staring at the contents of his coffee. Something seemed off about his expression, he hadn’t taken a single sip of his drink. Fiyero might’ve found this concerning, but he figured that Boq just wasn’t in the mood for coffee at the moment.

They, or rather, Fiyero, finished his coffee, and Boq stood “I wanna show you something” he said, tossing the paper cup of coffee in the garbage, it looked like he hadn’t drunk any of it. Fiyero chose not to say anything, and let Boq lead him away. The hottest time of the day had passed while they were inside, and it was much more bearable to be outside. They walked, and as they made their way, the sun began to go down, they quickened their pace. Boq led him to a small shack, that had a sign on the front reading: “snack shack” it looked long since abandoned. Boxes and wood, and all sorts of things had been stacked beside it, and the shack was separated from the rest of town, it’s own entity, not connected to any of the bland and closely-knit buildings. Distant from everything else.

Boq looked at him “do you know how to climb?” he asked, Fiyero considered it, he could climb trees, but he couldn’t say he’d climbed up a junk pile to the slanted roof of a small shack. He shrugged, it couldn’t be too hard “yeah, I know how.” he assured. They both climbed up, and Boq quickly situated himself on the roof. Fiyero watched him curiously, Boq seemed more at home here, on this rickety old shack, than anywhere else. It was golden hour by then, the sun was beginning to set, illuminating the small town a variety of different oranges and pinks.

Boq was caught up in the view, there was a genuine smile on his face. Fiyero didn’t think he’d seen him this relaxed in the entirety of the time he’d been there so far. Boq let out a small sigh “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” he said. Fiyero was silent for a moment “yes, beautiful.” but he wasn’t looking at the sunset. Boq finally looked at him, and the smile was quickly replaced with a flushed face and a deer in the headlights expression.

Fiyero blinked, neither of them could find the words to speak. They stared blankly at each other in a moment that dragged on for what felt like forever before Fiyero finally managed to gather himself “I- I apologize. I know you’re straight.” he mumbled. There was another moment of silence, much shorter this time before someone spoke “No I’m not.” his voice was barely above a whisper, but it was deeply pained.

Boq looked up at him from where his head had been hidden between his knees, tears tracked his face and his eyes were “I’m not. But... I can’t- I can’t just... accept that. If I did I...” he trailed off. Fiyero wasn’t exactly sure what to say. When he had realized he was gay, it wasn’t that hard to accept, because he knew it was normal. He couldn’t possibly fathom what it must be like for someone who was raised to believe it was wrong. He turned so his body was facing the boy sitting beside him, who had gone back to looking away from him and placed his hand gently on his cheek, to direct Boq to look at him.

He sighed softly “I... Well, I can’t really understand what it’s like for you to realize you’re something you were raised to believe is wrong. But, I can assure you, that someday, it will make sense. That’s all I can offer in terms of promises. I just hope you know, you’ve got people willing to help you through it.” Boq still hadn’t moved away, so Fiyero kept his hand where it was. They relapsed into silence. And simply stared.

Fiyero’s eyes trailed around Boq’s face idly, observing the way the setting sun lit up his eyes. And Fiyero considered it a crime, that not nearly enough people appreciated brown eyes. His hat ad begun to fall off, Fiyero reached to fix it, but then there was a hand around his wrist, and Boq was so close. Almost too close, well, not too close for him. But surely this amount of contact would make Boq uncomfortable. But he was still leaning closer.

Before he knew it, Boq’s hand was on the back of his neck, and their lips were pressed together. It took him a moment to return the kiss, but when he did, he knew exactly what that tight feeling in his chest before had been. He wrapped his arms around Boq’s waist to draw him closer. Eventually, Boq pulled away for breath, and once again, silence ensued.

Boq was practically in his lap, and they were closer physically then Fiyero had ever thought they would be. But then, Boq was backing away “we uh... we should probably head back to the house. It’s getting dark.” he climbed down, and Fiyero followed.

They spent the journey back in silence.


	5. Just Hold Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elphaba can tell something is wrong. Boq finally opens up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posting chapter 5, then starting on the next one and getting ahead of schedule so I won't have so many long time gaps between chapters :D

Elphaba had a way of reading people, ever since she was little, she could tell whether someone was upset just by looking at them, It annoyed Boq to no end, but she was grateful for it because when the two boys got home after their trip, she could tell something was wrong. The moment they stepped inside, the mood in the small house changed immensely, and it was obvious. She raised an eyebrow at her friend, and gave him The Look, he knew what it meant ‘are you okay? Do you need to talk?’ he shook his head and made his way upstairs. Leaving her alone with Fiyero.

‘Time for an interrogation’ she thought, turning in her seat to look at Fiyero, who was making his way to the kitchen “so, how’d coffee go?” she could see the way his shoulders tensed, but he gave her a smile “it went great!” he said. He was a terrible liar. Elphaba stood “okay... whatever you say.” she turned away from Fiyero, leaving him to do whatever it was he was up to and went upstairs.

Boq’s door was closed, and there was no noise coming from his room, maybe he was asleep, but she didn’t care if he was asleep, she needed answers. And she knew Boq usually stayed up to an ungodly hour anyway, and it was only nine PM. So he made her way down the hall, treading carefully past Glindas door, that was open crack, she peeked in out of curiosity, to find she was asleep. ‘naturally, she probably wants her “beauty sleep” whatever that is.’ she thought, rolling her eyes. She never grasped the concept of beauty sleep, or the typical idea of beauty, either.

She knocked softly on Boq’s door, frowning when she got no response. “Boq, I respect your privacy enough to knock, but I’m coming in anyway because you’re clearly upset,” she said, loud enough that he’d hear through the door, but not quite loud enough that anyone else currently in the house would hear. She stepped inside, and found Boq lying face down on his bed ‘oh boy.’ she sighed as she made her way over. She sat on the edge of her bed “you alright, buddy?” she said.

Surprisingly, he shook his head. She’d have been lying if she said she had been expecting him to actually open up. She hated when he wouldn’t tell her anything, it worried her. Granted, it made her a hypocrite, she did the same thing. Neither of them were that good with emotions, but when it came to each other, they at least made an effort to open up. She reached over awkwardly to pat his back “you wanna talk about it?” he nodded, she internally winced, she wasn’t quite sure she was ready for emotions that day.

He turned over onto his back, she frowned at the tear tracks on his face. Something was wrong. He sat up, keeping his gaze fixed on the floor “I kissed him...” that couldn’t be right. She must’ve heard him wrong, or maybe this was some sort of joke. She might have believed him right away if he had said ‘He kissed me’ but Boq, so quiet, gentle, and so set in his sexuality, wouldn’t initiate a kiss with a guy. But, maybe she had been judging him wrong the entire time. “you... kissed him?” she repeated, in a question.

he nodded “I... I don’t know why. Something came over me and I just-” he sighed, ran his hands over his face and let himself fall back onto the comforter. “well, what did he do?” she asked. Silence fell over him, she could see his mind working over how to respond “well... he kissed me back, obviously. And it was like... a real kiss. And I felt something. But I don’t want to feel it.”

Elphaba, for once in her life, didn’t know what to say. She could only sit there. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence, but it certainly wasn’t happy either. It weighed on them. They both knew the conclusion Boq had come to. Elphaba would support him, of course, she would, but she could only imagine how much he must have been panicking then. What would he tell his dad? Worse yet, Nessa. She wasn’t temperamental, but there’s no way she would be okay with this. Not because her boyfriend turned out to like boys, though she was sure it might hurt her, but because of the way he had found out. Loyalty was important to everyone in the Thropp family, and this was a sure way for drama to arise.

she couldn’t see his face, he was on his side, with his back towards her, but she could hear him sniffling. She put a hand on his shoulder, and rubbed circles into his back, unsure of what else to do. she sighed “hey...” her voice trailed off, what was she supposed to even say? I’m sorry? It’ll be fine? Neither of those would work. She had nothing to be sorry for, and the other one was just a lie. Clearly, it wasn’t okay, and he wasn’t okay. His dad was sure to have a bad reaction.

He turned over again and looked at her, she could see tears falling over his face, they had tracked over the bridge of his nose from laying on his side. And his eyes were beginning to get red and puffy. The weight felt heavier than before, now that they were looking at each other. Elphaba wasn’t big on hugs, in fact, she was quite averse to them, but nonetheless, she opened her arms for him. He sat up and fell right into them.

They sat there well into the night, at some point, they had laid down, still hugging each other. She let him cry into her shirt, she was wearing a thick sweater, so tears soaking through and burning her wouldn’t be an issue. The tears still burned, of course, but in a much different way than physically. She hated seeing her friends in so much distress. She liked to pretend that she was careless and cold all the time. But in all truthfulness, she cared much more than she let on. At least, when it came to people.

“Nessa is coming tomorrow, you should talk to her,” she said, to no response. “Boq?” she looked down to find he had fallen asleep. She sighed and slowly, carefully, let go of him and sat up. Maybe it was best that he hadn’t heard her. The last thing he needed was to think about that. And besides, she thought, he should do it on his own terms. ‘he isn’t me. I didn’t have to worry about Nessa.’ His situation was different, they had been dating for almost two years. So Elphaba could only imagine how telling her that he had a crush on a guy would go over.

She looked at the clock on the bedside table “three AM? How long were we sitting there?” she mumbled to herself. She shrugged it off and went back to her room. They had a long day ahead of them tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments are appreciated, as always! I love hearing from yall ^-^

**Author's Note:**

> thank you, friends, on the wicked discord sever, for encouraging me while I wrote this first chapter, I love y'all <3 as always, and comments are always appreciated. As much as I enjoy screaming into the void, it's nice to get a response every now and then


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